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A struggle to resolve Ukraine impasse

Congress this week will try to get its act together on bolstering Ukraine and condemning Russia, as the House and Senate struggle to reconcile divergent approaches to the crisis.

The Democratic-led Senate plans to begin voting Monday evening on legislation that packages aid to Ukraine with the approval of reforms by the International Monetary Fund sought by the Obama administration. But the House could vote by the end of the week on its own legislation that does not include the IMF provision, which House Republican leaders do not want tied to the Ukraine crisis.

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The ongoing dispute over the IMF issue has prevented any assistance for Ukraine from making it to the president’s desk, undermining the stated desire of leaders in both parties for the U.S. to demonstrate a unified front in the face of President Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Eastern Europe, where Russia formally annexed Crimea last week.

The House earlier in March approved $1 billion in loan guarantees for Ukraine, but Democrats in the Senate are pushing their own bill that includes not only the loan guarantees but the approval of IMF reforms and additional assistance for Ukraine. A Senate Democratic aide said a procedural vote on the latter measure could come Monday, setting up final passage on Wednesday.

Yet while its earlier loan guarantee bill remains stuck in the Senate, the House plans to move on separate legislation next week to broaden sanctions on Russian officials and businessmen, expand international Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty broadcasts in Ukraine and Crimea, and provide $8 million to boost law enforcement efforts.

That measure has the support of the top Republican and Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, which will consider the bill on Tuesday. A full House vote is possible later in the week, a leadership aide said.

Republicans say the IMF bill can move separately, and privately they continue to link it to a one-year delay in IRS regulations on tax-exempt 501(c)(4) organizations. The GOP argues that the regulations, unrelated to foreign policy, would enhance a campaign of harassment against conservative groups, and party leaders pushed for the trade when the administration first asked for the IMF provisions to be included in an omnibus spending bill in January.

The Obama administration was not backing down Friday, after the House bill emerged.

“We continue to support the comprehensive package that will help Ukraine restore financial stability. Congressional approval of the IMF reforms would allow the IMF to provide Ukraine an additional $6 billion in assistance under its standard loan practices – without any new financial commitment from the United States," an administration official said.

Congressional Republicans have opposed the language and argued it would lessen U.S. influence in the institution.

“I think it was probably unhelpful to link IMF to Ukraine,” said Kori Schake former Bush-era State Department official, now at the right-leaning Hoover Institution. “They ought to delink.”

Schake said that “Ukraine desperately needs” to be stabilized financially and to get assistance in good governance.

“If Mr. Putin’s ambitions are to be checked, we must take more steps to put pressure on Russia,” Cantor wrote. “Thus I expect the House to move to impose greater costs on Mr. Putin and the oligarchs from Russia. In addition, as a world leader and a country that keeps its word to its friends, America has a responsibility to support countries like Ukraine who are threatened by their neighbors.”

Lawmakers said the new House bill “supplements” President Obama’s unilateral actions to impose sanctions on Russian officials and businessmen.